The LOONAVERSE lore have a lot of cultural references.
Religion[]
Christianity[]
Eden[]
In Christianity, roses appear in religious depictions of paradise (Eden). Similarly the red colour of the rose, especially in medieval Christianity, symbolises God’s love. In the love4eva music video, we see Yves, Chuu and Go Won destroying a rose. It is most likely to be symbolic of them denouncing Eden leading to them running away.[1]
Judaism[]
JinSoul's color is blue. The color blue represents divinity in Judaism, since it is the color of the sky and the sea. One possible link regarding divinity is JinSoul's animal, a Betta fish that "swallows the sun in the afternoon". It also represents equilibrium, since its hue suggests a shade midway between white and black, day and night. In addition, JinSoul's secondary color is black.
This could explain why JinSoul is featured in Egoist. Considering that she has been to all three areas of the Möbius, these being Earth - her encounter with ViVi, The Cosmos - placing a cherry on Choerry's cake to call for her, and now Eden - with Olivia Hye, she brings some sort of equilibrium to the LOONAVERSE.
JinSoul's animal is a fish. In Judaism, a fish is known as a symbol of fertility and good luck. The Sephardic Jews would use the fish symbol in their home to ward off the Evil Eye. This could represent that JinSoul plays a maternal role in ODD EYE CIRCLE and why she is the one putting a cherry on Choerry's cake. She brings a lot of the LOONAVERSE together this way.
JinSoul sings about being guilty swallowing the sun in the afternoon. There is a Jewish holiday called Birkat Hachama which means "Blessing of the Sun". It is considered a rare blessing and occurs about every 30 years. The purpose of this holiday is to thank God for creating the sun. JinSoul may be guilty of swallowing a blessing from God and discarding it. Many theorize that the girl orbiting around ODD EYE CIRCLE in LOONATIC is a yyxy member, that is messing with ODD EYE CIRCLE's fate. They are the ones who want to rebel from higher beings dictating their lives so they can create a world of self-love. This is why ODD EYE CIRCLE is looking at them with irritated expressions. This is why JinSoul became guilty of swallowing the sun in the afternoon. As a result of an event in the timeline, she ended up discarding God's blessing.
In Singing in the Rain and Sweet Crazy Love, JinSoul is constantly struggling over letting go of her fish versus keeping it. Once she is out of her transparent box and lets go of her fish, she evaporates into a goddess form. But on the contrary, ODD EYE CIRCLE is liberated once JinSoul takes off her eyepatch and looks at her fish with a mesmerizing expression. This demonstrates that each decision she makes comes with its pros and cons that will drastically affect each aspect of the LOONAVERSE. In a sense, JinSoul is the most unstable member because of this. Despite her ability to bring equilibrium to the LOONAVERSE, there are so many inner conflicts she has to deal with.[2]
Mythology[]
Norse[]
Just like the LOONAVERSE, the world the Norse gods lived in is both linear and cyclical. Every cycle ends the same - with destruction. It ends with Ragnarok, the war of the gods.
Freya was the goddess of beauty, fertility, and love. She reigned over death and war, too, and watched over Folkvangr, the world dead soldiers were taken to. Her symbol was the dove, which is HaSeul's representative animal. It was said that she was even driven by a chariot of cats, which can symbolize HyunJin's yellow truck from Let Me In.
There aren’t a lot of stories about Freya and Frigga that don’t feature them as side characters in their own stories. Freya was known for her sexual escapades, and for not giving a crap what anybody thought of her. She was famous for not doing what men expected of her, especially in forced marriages. Freya was a savage, but she was faithful to her husband Od, which some theorize was actually Odin, the All-Father, god of magic, war, and prophecy. And then there is Frigga, the goddess of beauty, marriage, prophecy, and fertility, who was said to be married to Odin.
It is possible that Freya and Frigga are the same goddesses, that over centuries of oral tradition and different names across languages, got split into two goddesses. Both goddesses have so many name variations in so many languages that the cross-over between the two is undeniable. Depending on where you look, the word Friday is either named for Freya or Frigga. Neither is wrong.
It is likely that we see war at play in Let Me In. We see the Mother Goddess Frigga starting a war with the Goddess Freya. We witness HaSeul start a war with herself, and launch herself into her own personal Ragnarok.[3]
Greek[]
Art[]
The Thinker[]
The Listening Room (1958)[]
Moebius Collector Cards (1993)[]
Literature[]
The Frog Prince (1812)[]
- Brothers Grimm's The Frog Prince (1812)[6]
In the tale, a spoiled princess reluctantly befriends the Frog Prince, whom she met after dropping a golden ball into a pond under a linden tree, and he retrieves it for her in exchange for her friendship. The Frog Prince, who is under a wicked fairy's spell, magically transforms back into a handsome prince. In the original Grimm version of the story, the frog's spell was broken when the princess threw the frog against the wall, at which he transformed back into a prince, while in modern versions the transformation is triggered by the princess kissing the frog.
The Frog Prince's history was portrayed in YeoJin's Kiss Later music video. The Frog Prince shows YeoJin his affection and tries to kiss her. On the other hand, YeoJin doesn't want it and runs away from him. In the end, the kiss between YeoJin and The Frog Prince doesn't happen.
The Little Match Girl (1845)[]
- Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl (1845)[5]
A story about a poor young girl that was trying to sell matches on the street on New Year's Eve. However, the girl is ignored by passersby as no one buys from her, leaving her to suffer alone in the cold weather. In the flame of the matches, she sees a series of comforting visions, however, each of them disappears as its match burns out. When all the matches are gone, the girl freezes to death.
Hans Christian Andersen's short story was portrayed in Chuu's Heart Attack music video. It focuses on Chuu's undying love for Yves as she admires her but cannot get Yves' attention. Chuu bites the apple to make Yves notice her and sees visions of the two of them together in a joyful setting.
Film[]
The Bride of the Gorilla (1951)[]
First featured in the background of dal segno, and later in reverse in a teaser for So What, The Bride of the Gorilla is a little-known American horror film from the 1950s. The main character became cursed, thus turning into a beast at night.
Clueless (1995)[]
Clueless portrays teenagers love story. The main plot is about giving a makeover to an ugly duckling. The yellow plaid uniform worn by the main character became an iconic fashion over time.
Music[]
Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon (1973)[]
Oh Wonder's Oh Wonder (2014)[]
Oh Wonder is a British-pop band, known for their unique indie-pop sound. The band's self titled debut album, Oh Wonder was released over the span of fifteen months starting in September 2014, with a new song being released every month digitally on Soundcloud. They have been hailed as the first musical act to ever attempt this feat, and could have easily influenced Jaiden Jeong with the concept of a new member each month, since he has stated that he began planning the LOONAVERSE in 2014, at the same time of Oh Wonder's debut album release.